BILL NUMBER: AB 884 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 30, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 9, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 1, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 5, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 22, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 6, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gordon
(Principal coauthor: Senator Wolk)
FEBRUARY 26, 2015
An act to amend Section 10248 of, add
Section 10248.5 to, and to repeal and add
Section 9026.5 of, the Government Code, relating to the Legislature,
and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 884, as amended, Gordon. Legislature: legislative
proceeding: audiovisual recordings. information
: public use .
Existing law prohibits a television signal generated by the
Assembly from being used for any political or commercial purpose,
including, but not limited to, any campaign for elective public
office or any campaign supporting or opposing a ballot proposition
submitted to the electors. Existing law provides that a person or
organization who violates this prohibition is guilty of a
misdemeanor.
This bill would repeal these provisions.
Existing law requires the Legislative Counsel, with the advice of
the Assembly Committee on Rules and the Senate Committee on Rules, to
make certain information available to the public in electronic form,
including, among other things, the text of each bill introduced in
each current legislative session, including each amended, enrolled,
and chaptered form of each bill. Existing law provides that no
actions taken pursuant to these requirements alter or relinquish any
copyright or other proprietary interest or entitlement of the State
of California in the information made available to the public.
This bill would repeal the prohibition against using
Assembly-generated television signals for political or commercial
purposes. The bill would require the Legislature to cause audiovisual
recordings to be made of all open and public proceedings of each
house of the Legislature and the committees thereof, as specified.
The bill would require those recordings to be posted on the Internet
by the Legislative Counsel within one business day after the
proceeding being recorded has been recessed or adjourned for the day.
The bill would require a recording posted on the Internet to be
retrievable in a perceivable format for the duration of the biennial
session in which the recording is made and the two biennial sessions
immediately following. The bill would require the Legislative Counsel
to preserve and secure these recordings in an electronic form and
store them in an archive in a retrievable and perceivable format for
not less than 20 years. The bill would also authorize the televised
or other audiovisual recordings of the public proceedings of each
house of the Legislature and the committees thereof to be used by the
public without the imposition of any fee due to the State or any
public agency or public corporation thereof.
The bill would recast the provisions relating to state copyright
and proprietary interests in information made publicly available by
the Legislative Counsel and would instead provide that the
information made available to the public, as specified, is within the
public domain.
This bill would specify that it is contingent upon voter approval
of a specified constitutional amendment at the November 8, 2016,
statewide general election.
This bill would place the information that the Legislative Counsel
makes available to the public pursuant to these provisions within
the public domain and would provide that the State of California
retains no copyright or other proprietary interest in that
information.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 9026.5 of the Government Code is repealed.
SEC. 2. Section 9026.5 is added to the
Government Code, to read:
9026.5. (a) (1) Commencing on January 1, 2018, the Legislature
shall do all of the following with respect to its open and public
proceedings:
(A) Cause audiovisual recordings to be made of all floor sessions
of each house of the Legislature, the committee proceedings thereof
at which a vote is taken or other action is recorded, and the
committee proceedings thereof held in the State Capitol Building
regardless of whether a vote is taken or an action is recorded.
(B) Make reasonable efforts to cause audiovisual recordings to be
made of all committee proceedings held outside of the State Capitol
Building at which no vote is taken and no action is recorded.
(C) Make reasonable efforts to broadcast to the public, in real
time, all proceedings of the Legislature and the committees thereof
that are held in the State Capitol Building.
(2) The Legislative Counsel shall post all recordings made
pursuant to subdivision (a) on the Internet within one business day
after the proceeding being recording has been recessed or adjourned
for the day. Recordings posted on the Internet shall be retrievable
in a perceivable format for public use for the duration of both the
biennial session of the Legislature in which the recording is made
and the two biennial sessions immediately following.
(3) The Legislative Counsel shall preserve and secure all
recordings made pursuant to subdivision (a) in an electronic form and
store them in an archive in a retrievable and perceivable format for
not less than 20 years. Archived recordings shall be reasonably
available for use by the public.
(b) Televised or other audiovisual recordings of the public
proceedings of each house of the Legislature and the standing
committees thereof may be used by the public without the imposition
of any fee due to the state or any public agency or public
corporation thereof.
SEC. 3. Section 10248 of the Government Code is
amended to read:
10248. (a) The Legislative Counsel shall, with the advice of the
Assembly Committee on Rules and the Senate Committee on Rules, make
all of the following information available to the public in
electronic form:
(1) The legislative calendar, the schedule of legislative
committee hearings, a list of matters pending on the floors of both
houses of the Legislature, and a list of the committees of the
Legislature and their members.
(2) The text of each bill introduced in each current legislative
session, including each amended, enrolled, and chaptered form of each
bill.
(3) The bill history of each bill introduced and amended in each
current legislative session.
(4) The bill status of each bill introduced and amended in each
current legislative session.
(5) All bill analyses prepared by legislative committees in
connection with each bill in each current legislative session.
(6) All audiovisual recordings of legislative proceedings that are
required to be posted in accordance with paragraph (2) of
subdivision (a) of Section 9026.5.
(7) All vote information concerning each bill in each current
legislative session.
(8) Any veto message concerning a bill in each current legislative
session.
(9) The California Codes.
(10) The California Constitution.
(11) All statutes enacted on or after January 1, 1993.
(b) The information identified in subdivision (a) shall be made
available to the public by means of access by way of the largest
nonproprietary, nonprofit cooperative public computer network. The
information shall be made available in one or more formats and by one
or more means in order to provide the greatest feasible access to
the general public in this state. Any person who accesses the
information may access all or any part of the information. The
information may also be made available by any other means of access
that would facilitate public access to the information. The
information that is maintained in the legislative information system
that is operated and maintained by the Legislative Counsel shall be
made available in the shortest feasible time after the information is
available in the information system. The information that is not
maintained in the information system shall be made available in the
shortest feasible time after it is available to the Legislative
Counsel.
(c) Any documentation that describes the electronic digital
formats of the information identified in subdivision (a) and is
available to the public shall be made available by means of access by
way of the computer network specified in subdivision (b).
(d) Personal information concerning a person who accesses the
information may be maintained only for the purpose of providing
service to the person.
(e) No fee or other charge may be imposed by the Legislative
Counsel as a condition of accessing the information that is
accessible by way of the computer network specified in subdivision
(b).
(f) The electronic public access provided by way of the computer
network specified in subdivision (b) shall be in addition to other
electronic or print distribution of the information.
(g) The information made available to the public pursuant to this
section is within the public domain.
SEC. 4. This act shall become operative only if
Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 14 of the 2015-16 Regular
Session is approved by the voters at the November 8, 2016, statewide
general election.
SEC. 2. Section 10248.5 is added to the
Government Code , to read:
10248.5. Notwithstanding subdivision (g) of Section 10248, the
information that the Legislative Counsel makes available to the
public pursuant to Section 10248 is within the public domain and the
State of California retains no copyright or other proprietary
interest in that information.
SEC. 5. SEC. 3. This act is an
urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the
public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of
the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts
constituting the necessity are:
Because of the importance of ensuring public access to all
legislative proceedings, it is necessary that this bill take effect
immediately.
Because of the importance of ensuring, without unnecessary and
undue delay, public access to and use of Assembly-generated
television signals and legislative information that the Legislative
Counsel makes available in electronic form, it is necessary that this
bill take effect immediately.